The Source

Abstract

W.S. Klass has a unique autobiography to be told. While telling it in its entirety would take up the space of a novel and likely make many people enraged over certain details being exposed to the public, this article will summarize the most important regarding him as a writer. Other moments mentioned are to show what drove and influenced Klass to write as passionately as he does. Klass will tell this story in a third-person voice and hopefully site a few outside sources along the way regarding his character.

The Source

When writing non-fiction of any kind, credibility is everything. Where did the information come from? Is it a credible source? It is always good to bring an appealing balance to the document being developed by adding other perspectives, other sources. This creates a unique dynamic keeping the document unbiased or multidimensional. Who better to discuss W.S. Klass than the man himself?

About W.S. Klass

W.S. Klass is a penname used by Kevin C. Davison. Originally, all writing was published under his birthname. For purposes of branding and promotional considerations the name W.S. Klass, Mr. Klass, or Klass will be used to reference the writer being discussed herein.

Klass’ writing is influenced by his favorite writers Edgar Allen Poe, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Bruce R. Cordell, R.A. Salvatore, J.R.R. Tolkien, and H.P. Lovecraft. Klass loves the “dark stuff,” as he can relate to it.

You can find out more about Klass on his various social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. You may find other works published on alternative sites such as WordPress.

Klass, The Early Years

In the beginning, W.S. Klass wrote mostly fictional works. He began developing his talents as a writer as far back as the third grade. Klass’ imagination has always been active. He relied on it to get through many dark times during his childhood, from parental disputes, to health issues, and more.

As mentioned above, W.S. Klass had health issues as a child. He lived most of his life with epilepsy. He did not outgrow this until he was twenty-six years old. When he was around ten years of age, he developed a form of kidney cancer called a Wilms’ Tumor. He has lived with one kidney since then and has done everything he could to defy the limits of his health issues.

Klass wound up unwanted by any parent or family member. The responsibility of his health and burden of the medical bills were too much. He wound up in foster care by the age of fourteen, just a few months before his fifteenth birthday. Klass faced many challenges through his years. NEVER did he let those challenges hold him back for long. NEVER did he give up. NEVER did he allow his haunting past to keep him from his dreams.

W.S. Klass has always had a passion for writing. He absolutely loves fantasy and grew up playing various role-playing games such as the most popular, Dungeons & Dragons. These games fed his imagination. Every loss Klass had ever experienced empowered his depression and anxiety. Like many others, W.S. Klass lives with these issues. His outlets were few. He had his writing but many of his works were lost over the years.

Faced with homelessness on numerous occasions, Klass met many friends who helped him. They became family to him as do so many new people he has met over the years. Many of these friends gamed with him and encouraged Klass to write of their gaming adventures. Klass continuously struggled and had little time for hobbies or dreams.

The Fights

Klass found a new outlet in mixed martial arts. He competed while working a full-time job in hopes he would make it big as all other athletes’ dream. His goals were to simply ensure his wife and children had a comfortable life; roof over their heads; bills paid; food in their mouths; and clothes on their backs. Klass competed until shortly after his fortieth birthday, upon which he retired from the sport and hung up his gloves reluctantly.

Published

The fourth child of W.S. Klass was destined to arrive in 2010. Seven years into his mixed martial arts career, Klass knew he would not have much time to continue competing as he once did. It would only be a hobby. Klass began writing again. He set a goal to finish his first manuscript and somehow get it published before his next child was born.

Klass finished his manuscript near the end of 2009 and wanted to submit it to Wizards of the Coast during their open submission time frame. Unfortunately, open submissions were not opened that year. Understanding copyright law, a little at the time, Klass had to rewrite everything to submit elsewhere. He worked through the nights to rewrite his manuscript, having to develop new races and deities for his own world. This is when he took his gaming ideas and brought them to life. Dark Athyx was born.

In his search for a publisher several companies offered to pitch his manuscript for a price. Klass would not pay upfront. Nor would he pay to be published through what are known as “vanity publishers.” After a few rejection letters, he received an exciting letter of acceptance. A seven-year that can turn into a fourteen-year contract was issued by the major publisher for not one, not two, but three books. Dark Athyx was published before his daughter was born. His goal was met and then some.

Dark Athyx was first published February of 2010. The manuscript was so thick that the publisher recommended it be cut in half and published as two separate books. This is how the series first began. The second publication was Wrath which was first released in 2010. The second installment of the Dark Athyx Series, Assassins of the Longest Night was released August 2010.

Many offers came. More books were written. New publishers became involved. Self-publishing was given a shot for a few projects. In the end, Klass got his rights back for his first three books and re-branded them all under his new pen-name

W.S. Klass is a proud father of four children and happily married husband. He has one granddaughter and a new grandchild on the way. Klass lost many friends and family members. Death takes many before their times, unfairly. His Dark Athyx fantasy series was greatly influenced by a father-figure of his. He dedicates every book in this series as he releases them to John Bradford, a man who was there for him during hard times. Cancer took his friend in 2012.

While one of the books in the series has been narrated by Sarah L. Colton and the rest of his works are narrated by the notorious Nick Zane. All books are available in print on Amazon or wherever books are sold. The hardbacks are exclusive on Barnes & Noble. Also available in Kindle, Nook, ePub, and on Audible.com.

Books listed in chronological order: Wrath, Diversity is Madness (Book 1), Madness Rising (Book 2), Bounty of Souls (Book 3), Into the Wilderness (Book 4), Dark Athyx (Book 5), Assassins of the Longest Night (Book 6) An Assassin’s Revenge (Book 7).

The most recent release by W.S. Klass was Into the Wilderness, a prequel set to fill a gap between his original books and first three prequels. Klass has met many people over the years. He has worked with other authors such as Candace Bowser who wrote a spin-off series based on the characters developed in Wrath. W.S. Klass currently hosts two different podcasts, People are [Expletive Deleted] Stupid and Reading in the Sauna with W.S. Klass. Each podcast is unique.

Reading in the Sauna with W.S. Klass is meant to entertain his listeners as he struggles to read while sweating in a hot sauna. With intense heat and sweat dripping in his eyes as well as upon the pages, this can make for some entertaining content. In each episode, Klass reads an excerpt or portion of a book from a random author either he is reviewing, and, or promoting.

In the podcast People are [Expletive Deleted] Stupid, Klass researches offensive topics and points out the objective facts. To keep it entertaining, he aggressively and most opinionated, points out how stupid people are regarding conflicting statements, views, and beliefs, and so forth. This podcast is not for the sensitive individual, however, holds a lot of fact-based material.

Character

Character witnesses add that dynamic I spoke of earlier. This segment will be where we cover the perspectives of others.

We begin with a man who goes by the username "OfficiallyTheJoker" on TikTok. In a video interview he posted regarding Klass, he stated, "You're asking the Clown what he knows of W.S. Klass! Alright. So I do know the media has him pegged as a fictional character who has tendencies to write offensive subjects and also has outbursts. umm... in expressive writing. umm... I also know that most of that is [Expletive Deleted]. He's actually a really decent guy! And uh--even, through his offensive writing, if you actually got to know him as a person you would know that he's an entertainer; he's not in it to actually downgrade people, make people feel bad about themselves or make people hate him. He's here to entertain!"

“Jeska.Leigh18” posted a video of her own. In her video she states,” What do I know about W.S. Klass? I know that he’s amazing! I know that he is very devoted and very talented. I know that he’s funny… sometimes hilarious. [Smiles]. He has a good heart and he’s strong! He’s compassionate and when he says he’ll do something he does. I also know that… [Pause]. He’s a good friend! He’s someone you can talk to and hell either laugh with you, cry with you, or just be your shoulder to cry on. And that is W.S. Klass! {Blows kiss]. Love you.”

Klass is motivated by his public to continue his works as a researcher, writer, and pod-caster. He has published other works and articles such as this one on Vocal+. Future projects include articles on Vocal, working with new sites such as Voyce.Me, writing more books, and even working with a few producers on some screenplay productions. Be sure you are following his progress on social media.